Together in the end!
by SkaterSince2004
Summary: SAWYER & KATE ROMANCE! If you don't like Sawyer and Kate as a romantic couple, then this story is NOT for you. 3rd installment of my Skate-Centered story. The 1st story is called 'How they moved on' & the sequel is called 'The long way home! I suggest you read both those stories first in order to catch on what is happening in this one. Hope you enjoy! (Rated M for later chapters)
1. How I met your mother

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Author's Note:** I'm truly sorry for my long absence, but without going into too much detail, we had a family emergency and the aftermath of it all kept me from writing and quiet honestly from thinking about Skate for a while. We're doing better again and I finally managed to get this small but intro chapter posted! I realize it's very short, but it turns out that fluff is a lot harder to write then angst and drama … at least for me. I'm always worried that I'm boring people if there isn't some kind of intrigue going on. Also, I have not forgotten about bringing Charlie back, I'm just still undecided on how I'm going to do that.

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_Her every breath is weaker than the last  
And lately when she sleeps she talks about the past  
Her husband knows she's tired of holding on  
She looks at him and says I wanna go home_

_What do you say by Reba McEntire_

X

Knoxville, Tennessee

Summer of 2042

The office looked dark and dingy with the curtain drawn, so the first thing he did was open them up to take advantage of the natural sunlight to lighten up the room and make his search a little bit easier.

He stood in front of the wall-to-wall bookshelf and scanned the spine of the books for anything that would stand out. Every now and then he would pull one out and examine it but so far he'd had no luck in finding the one his mother had been going on and on about for the last week.

Frustrated he sat back in the old leather desk chair and sat behind his father's old wooden desk. He ran a hand through his sandy-blond hair and sighed before he dug out his cell phone from his jean pocket and made a call.

She answered on the third ring. "Hey."

"Hey." He replied, "Are you still at the nursing home?"

"Yeah. Why?" She replied.

"How is she? I mean … how is she today?"

"She's here one moment and the next she's just out of it. Talking nonsense." His sister paused for a moment and when she spoke up he could hear the emotion in her voice, "She thought I was a stranger and asked me where James was, and … that she didn't want to be here and wanted James to take her home now. It breaks my heart to see her like this."

He was equally overcome by the emotions in his sister's voice, but unlike her it made him angry, "I fuckin' hate this shit. I hate her bein' sick like that."

She sniffed into the phone, unable to speak at the onslaught of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. When she finally could speak again, she asked the obvious question at hand, "Are you still at the house? Did you find it yet?"

"Yeah. I am." He answered, "But no, so far no luck. I was hopin' she was lucid today so you can ask her again where I can find this book."

"I will if she wakes up again and recognizes me, I'll ask her again."

"Alright." He replied, "I'm gonna keep on lookin' … maybe the third time's the charm." He tried to sound funny, but the obvious frustration was clear as day in his voice.

"Bye."

"Talk to you later." He hung up the phone and tucked it away before once again he decided to go through every drawer on the old oak desk.

Rummaging through paperwork and other nic nacs, he lifted a big pile of papers out at once out of a deep drawer, when some of the loose papers slipped out of his hands and began to scatter all over the hardwood floor beneath the desk.

"Son of a bitch!" he cursed out loud to himself as he pushed the chair back and grouched down on the floor to clean up the mess he'd just made.

Just then, right there in his line of sight, neatly tucked away in a hidden gap between the drawers and the back panel of the old worn down desk, something caught his eye. "No fuckin' way." He swore once more as he dropped the papers in his hands mindlessly to the floor and reached for the book crammed into the tight spot.

A big notebook sized book with sturdy cardboard binding that revealed nothing from the outside about what the inside would entail.

He blindly stood, never taking his eyes off of his finding and sat back into the old chair as he opened the book in his hands.

His hands turned the pages quickly, one after the other and it was clear as day to him, that this was in fact his father's handwriting, but what took him by surprise to see little notes here and there, that were definitely his mom's writing as well.

_What the hell is this?_ He wondered before he turned to the very first page and began reading.

_When you're all grown up, you'll have heard stories about us. Stories about your mother and me, about how we met and what not. Some things you'll read in old newspaper archives and online reports, some stories you'll hear straight from aunt Claire, or aunt Cassidy or other people pretending they knew us. But this story here is going to be different than anything you'll ever read or hear about us from anyone else. Because, Son, this here is the real story about how I met your mother._

He dug out his phone in a hurry and dialed her number again, "Hey, I think I just found it. I'm on my way."

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Knoxville, Tennessee

Late December 2009

"Can't sleep?"

The voice startled James and he quickly looked up from the laptop screen in front of him to see the older man step into view. "Tryin' to give me a heart attack, Sarge? That's the new plan to get rid of me once an' for all?"

Sam took a seat in the armchair closer to the lit fireplace and shook his head, his voice sounding amused with the banter, "Nah, son, I gave up on that notion, the day she said I do."

A smirk crossed James' face, when he replied sarcastically, "Sure you did."

Silence filled the room once more before James closed the laptop and placed it wordlessly on the coffee table in front of him. He reached for his half empty bottle of beer and took a long swig before he relaxed back into the leather couch and stretched his legs out in front of him, his eyes taking in the small flickering of the fire burning in front of them.

"What's on your mind?" Sam asked quietly, his eye scanning the younger man's face.

"Everything." Came his heavy reply when his eyes connected with Sam's, but before Sam could speak up, James decided to clarify. "Money, Kate ..." A heavy sigh, "… and the baby." He added with emphasis on the latter.

Sam nodded in understanding and turned his full attention now to James, "Katie made it sound like money wasn't an issue anymore. She said that Hurley helped you guys out."

"He did." James nodded, "Once again, the big guy came through for us, and we're set right now, but … with the kid on the way, I …" he paused, unsure if he wanted to admit his fears and self doubt in front of his father-in-law.

But the older man quickly spoke up when he realized James' hesitation, "You're worried about being able to provide for your family. You're worried about getting a job."

James nodded again and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he rubbed both hands over his face, a vain attempt to hide the emotions he was unable to keep from displaying.

"Son, you're young, in good health and have a good head on your shoulders, I've got no doubt that you'll find a job sooner or later."

Another nod of agreement before he cleared his throat, "Problem is, Sarge, … the problem is the only thing I've ever been good at is conning."

This time Sam nodded in agreement, this wasn't news to him, "If you're smart enough to do that, then you're smart enough to make some good use of that brain o'yours too, Son."

_Easier said than done!_

A moment of silence passed between the two men, when Sam stated a surprising proposal, "In the meantime, since Claire and her mom are now looking for a place around here, have Kate and you thought about selling her a piece of this land?"

"What do you mean?" James asked surprised in return.

"I mean, if you sold her a big enough plot to build on, she could stop looking for a place to live and it would give you guys some more income to set aside. Just a thought."

"That's actually not a bad idea, Sarge." James warmed up to the idea the longer he thought about it.

Kate had been so worried about Claire finding a place to her liking. She feared that if she wouldn't find anything soon, she'd change her mind again and move back to L.A. or worse, Australia.

This would solve all of Kate's worries. He knew she would love having Aaron this close and truth be told, he wouldn't mind either having Claire and the kid live right next door. That way Clementine would have someone to play with whenever Cassidy would let him have her for a weekend.

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One month later

Kate wrapped the blanket around herself and stepped barefoot out onto their balcony. She raised her hand to her head, trying to shield her eyes from the bright sun as she took in the beautiful scenery that was her backyard.

The noise echoing through the woods was obnoxious, but deemed necessary. A little ways down the dirt road, not as close to the lake as they were, constructions were in full swing to get Claire's new home build. The foundation had been poured in record time and the framework had been finished just as quickly. The house was coming along steadily and hopefully would be move-in ready in a couple of months from now.

Meanwhile, the Littletons returned to L.A. to get all of their affairs in order.

With the balcony doors wide open, the cold January air rushed into the bedroom and caused James to reach blindly for the blanket, but to no avail.

He blinked a few times to adjust is eyes to the morning light and a smile crossed his face when he saw Kate standing on the balcony, wrapped up in the blanket he'd been looking for.

"Once a thief, always a thief." He teased her as he wrapped the thin cotton sheet around himself instead.

Kate turned at the sound of his voice, "What?" she asked confused.

"You stole my blanket." He replied as he sat up against the headboard, and padded the spot beside him, "Now why don't you come over here and warm me up again?"

She smirked at that and came back inside, closing the glass French doors behind her before she climbed back in bed next to him.

"Can't really call it stolen when I already own it." She stated when she shared her blanket with him as she snuggled up against him.

"You say potatoes, I say …"

She pressed her lips to his before he could finish his sentence, then climbed out of bed and headed into the bathroom.

He checked the time on his phone, "What time's your appointment, Freckles?"

The water turned on in the shower, but she stepped back into the bedroom to answer, "It's at noon."

"Noon." He repeated and Kate disappeared back into the bathroom. He reached for the book on his nightstand and opened it to the ultrasound picture of the baby that he'd been using religiously as a bookmark.

He stared at the grainy image that didn't reveal a whole lot just yet, but still captured his attention more often then he'd like to admit.

But this doctor appointment today was a big one. One top of her regular check up, they'd do another ultrasound today that could very well reveal whether they were having a boy or a girl.

Kate and him both had been telling people that it wouldn't matter either way, and that was the truth to some extent … but whenever he pictured what their child would look like a couple years from now, more often than not did he imagine a little blond haired tomboy, instead of a freckled faced little girl with unruly curls. But the thought of either one made his heart constrict in a way that was both terrifying and elating all the same.

James carefully tucked the picture back into the book, before he climbed out of bed and decided to join his wife in the shower.

XX

He couldn't shake the feeling that all eyes were on him while they sat in the small waiting room at Dr. Dickson's small town practice, waiting to be seen.

He was surrounded by women, some obviously pregnant, some not, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this out of place in a room full of women.

"Uhhh." Kate twisted in the chair right beside him.

"What's wrong?" His concerned voice echoed through the small room and caught all the women's attention once more.

Kate reached for his hand and placed it firmly against her left side, "Do you feel that? I'm getting kicked."

He nodded and tried to hide the smile that spread across his face up on feeling the movement against the palm of his hand.

Just then 'Mrs. Ford' was called and it was time them to see the doctor.

X

Kate climbed onto the examining chair, pulled her shirt all the way up under her chest and tucked the waistband of her jeans as far down as she could without exposing herself, while Dr. Dickson pulled out a bottle of gel and placed it on the small tray sitting beside her.

James stood wordlessly by Kate's side, more nervous than he'd like to admit. They'd already done this a couple of month back on the island. The first time he saw that little thing inside of her displayed on a screen was a feeling he'd never known before, but today felt altogether different.

They were having a baby and so far so good, every test and every check-up had come back okay, so the health of the kid was no longer in question. But today they could finally find out what they were having, and someway, somehow that made it all the more real!

The doctor made small talk, asking this and that, while making quick work on the sonogram machine in front of them. The older woman gave Kate a quick warning that the gel would be cold before she squirted a small amount onto Kate's extended stomach.

When the images began to form and the heartbeat could be heard throughout the small examining room, Kate reached for James hand as they both took the scene in before them.

_Now that's what you call a damn baby!_

Clear as day, there it was, the head, arms, legs and the spine!

One hand moving the wand around, while the other one worked buttons on the machine, Dr. Dickson gave the couple an approving nod, "Everything looks perfect." She beamed at them with a heartwarming smile and a southern drawl, "Have ya'll decided if ya' wanna know the sex?"

Kate looked up at James for just the briefest moment and they both nodded in unison, "Yeah, we would like to know."

A glance at the screen before them and a few quick moves of the ultrasound wand on Kate's belly, she pointed a manicured finger at the screen, and yet again with a southern drawl that put James' to shame she said, "That's a leg right there and that's the other leg, and you see that thing right there, well, you know what that means!"

_A boy!_

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**End Note:** So there it is, short, I know, but I hope someone still cares enough to read and leave a few words, so I'll know if it's worth trying to find the time to keep on writing about this couple. I hope I didn't confuse you all too much with that look into the future at the beginning, it won't be too much of a reoccurring thing … just something I did to spice it up a little.

So please, if you care to read about Sawyer and Kate some more, even if it's going to be mostly fluff and happily ever after stuff, leave me a few words … because your reviews is what keeps me motivated to put aside the time to write these chapters.

Like I already said, some things happened in our family, so I'm not sure I'll be able to update as often as I'd like, but I'll update as soon as I can, that's a promise. Thank you all for reading … xoxo


	2. Nobody's going to jail

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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**Author's Note:** Thank you for the nice reviews, I'm glad my long absence hasn't lost me my faithful readers.

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She didn't know what it was that woke her up in the first place, but she did know that she was still exhausted and in need of more sleep when she rolled over onto her other side and blindly extended an arm across the bed in his direction. It took her a moment, in her sleepy state of mind, to realize that James wasn't in the bed beside her when her hand connected with sheets and blankets instead of warm hard flesh.

"James." She asked into the dark bedroom as she lifted her head off of her pillow and looked around the room, blinking repeatedly to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. But there was no answer.

She reached over to her nightstand and turned on the light, and sure enough he wasn't there. Checking the time on her cell phone, she realized it was one o'clock in the morning, and when she touched his side of the bed again, it felt cold which meant he had been out of bed for more than just minutes.

Her heightened curiosity more nagging then her need for sleep, she got out of bed, reached for his discarded shirt from yesterday and pulled it on over her head.

The hallway outside her bedroom was dark, but the room across from hers was clearly lit, the light shining through under the closed door.

"James?" she asked again, just as she opened the door to the nursery.

The faint smell of paint still lingered from a couple of days ago when he'd painted the room blue and green.

"What the hell are you doing up?" James asked as he pulled the ear buds from his iPod out of his ears, the distinct melody of some old country song playing on quietly.

"I could ask you the same thing?" Kate replied as she stepped into the room and looked at him, donning a grey pair of sweats and a white t-shirt as he sat on the floor in the middle of the room, a screwdriver in one hand and an almost completely put together baby crib right beside him.

"Well …" He drawled, looking almost embarrassed and nodded towards the crib, "I couldn't sleep, so I thought, why not get this thing put together."

He hasn't been able to sleep much as of late, and as happy as they were ninety-nine percent of the time, she couldn't shake these thoughts about what was causing his sleepless nights.

"I woke up 'cause you weren't there." She explained her out-of-bed presence.

Still tired she sat down in the rocking glider and stretched her legs out on the ottoman as she rocked back and forth a few times, unsure how to ask the bothersome question in the back of her mind.

_Why weren't you there?_

He shook his head to himself and smirked that the dimples on his unshaven face were on full display. "Seem to remember a time when you couldn't sleep 'cause I was there."

Kate didn't smile or smirk back at him. She wasn't in the mood for jokes or teasing, she was simply too tired for any of that. "We were young and stupid then; I'd like to think we've grown up some since."

"That we have." He agreed as he looked up at her. 

"You do look tired, Freckles. I ain't gonna be that much longer, why don't ya' go on back to bed?" He smiled at her before he turned his full attention back to the couple remaining pieces of the crib that needed to be attached.

Kate yawned audibly, but at the same time shook her head at his suggestion, "I can wait. It looks like you're almost done."

A moment of silence filled the small room until Kate spoke up again, "This room's starting to look like a real nursery now."

"Yeah." He nodded, "It does."

_Smalltalk … why are we doing Smalltalk?_

"Now we can start buyin' diapers and stuff, get this dresser filled with clothes for the squirt." He added without even lifting his eyes off of the work he was doing. "Start thinkin' 'bout names too."

She couldn't bite her tongue any longer. "James?" Kate sat up a little taller in the chair and smoothed the shirt down over her thighs, "Are you having nightmares again … you know, about Juliet? Is that why you can't sleep?"

He frowned. She could tell even though his face was turned away from her, but he didn't answer, at least not quickly enough for Kate, so she spoke up again, "I thought we can talk about this stuff, I thought …"

"I ain't got no more nightmares, Freckles." He drawled and finally stopped what he was doing and turned around to give her his full attention now. "It ain't like that."

"Then what is going on with you?" Her accusing tone of voice echoed throughout the small room.

He sighed and put the tool in his hand down on the dresser and walked the few steps over to her.

She pulled her legs under her, leaving the ottoman empty for him to take a seat.

James sat and reached for both her hands, his eyes filled with sorrow, "I talked to Hurley."

Kate's heartbeat began to quicken when she immediately imagined the worst and interrupted him before he could speak, shaking her head, "We're not going back to the island. You're not going back, promise me, James."

He shook his head too, "That ain't what this is about." He tried to reassure her as his thumbs rubbed circles across her hands.

"I don't understand. What did Hurley want then?"

He sighed, "It's about Juliette's sister."

"What about her?" Kate's curiosity spiked once more.

"Ben and Hurley came up with this story about what happened to Juliette … you know, to give her sister some peace of mind."

Kate arched her eyebrows in confusion, "Peace of mind, how?"

"She knows now that Juliette passed away, just why and how … well, Ben's got that all worked out." James explained.

Kate nodded and thought about that for a moment, her eyes never leaving his, "So, that's why you haven't been able to sleep? I mean, what Hurley and Ben did for her was a good thing, don't you think?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but -."

"But what?" Kate was quick to reply.

"I feel like …" He looked away and rubbed one hand over his face, "Look, I just feel like I should check up on her, you know, make sure she's okay."

"You wanna go talk to Juliette's sister?" Kate asked somewhat surprised.

"Somethin' like that."

Kate looked away now and shook her head, "What do you plan on sayin' to her? I mean, you just told me that Ben cooked up a story about what happened to her … did he make you part of that story?"

"No, not really." He sighed in frustration, "I'm not even sure I wanna talk to her, Freckles. All I'm saying is I wanna drive down there, and see for myself how she's doing. Since I made it off of that damn rock, I feel like I owe it to Juliette to do this."

She looked away for a moment and let his words sink in.

Kate had a few skeleton's in her closet as well, some she'd meant to check up on a time or two, but never had the guts to actually go through with it because she was afraid of what she might find. But just because she was scared, it didn't justify denying him the chance to ease his troubled mind.

Her shoulders slumped in a surrendering way when her eyes finally connected with his again, "When are we leaving?"

"We?" he asked surprised and confused.

"Yeah, we." She nodded, "We're a team, remember?"

"Maybe the day after tomorrow, if that's alright with you?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

James got up and leaned over her, bracing himself on the armrests of the rocking chair and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

The fact that neither had stormed out of this room tonight, well, he'd call that progress.

Content and somewhat relieved that the nagging question had been answered, Kate got more comfortable in the chair again as she watched James get back to finishing up the crib for their baby boy. It was less than a minute before she closed her eyes and fell back asleep right then and there.

X

The crib was finally finished and the lack of sleep was starting to rear its ugly head.

He left the tools and packaging sitting on the bedroom floor, he'd clean it up tomorrow.

His eyes fell on Kate in the gliding chair. She looked so damn cute when she was fast asleep.

James walked over to her and ran a soothing hand up and down her upper arm, "Come on, gurl, let's go to bed."

She didn't wake, just stirred in her sleep, shifting her legs in a way that left her exposed.

James hadn't even realized that she wasn't wearing panties under his shirt until now, but her neatly trimmed dark brown curls suddenly had his full attention in more ways than one and the sleepiness he'd felt just moments ago had vanished once more.

He took in the sight of her in the gliding chair and for the briefest of moments; he could just imagine making love to her right then and there, with the chair rocking back and forth underneath her.

But disgusted and feeling just a tad bit like a pervert, he adjusted himself in his pair of sweatpants and reached for her arms instead. After all, this was going to be the boys' nursery and it just didn't seem right to get all hot and bothered for his mama-to-be right here and now.

He let out a grunt of exertion when he carefully hoisted her up, guided her arms around his neck, her head drooped onto his shoulder as he draped one arm around her back, the other under the bend of her knees and carried her back to their bedroom instead.

He carefully tugged her in and slipped into bed right beside her, before he draped one arm around her waist and let his hand slide over the expanded baby bell of hers.

"Freckles?" He whispered into her ear, but there was no response from her. She was out for the count and sex would have to wait until morning.

XX

James awoke to the smell of breakfast in the air. Groggily he reached for his wristwatch on the nightstand and squinted at it for a long moment until his eyes finally focused and he could see it, just to realize that it was already past 10 am.

He rolled all the way over to her side of the bed, rested his head on her pillow breathing in her scent as he closed his eyes for just a couple more minutes of sleep.

However the smell of food made his stomach growl in hunger and he finally got out of bed, pulled on his sweatpants once more and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

He couldn't help but smile when he opened the kitchen door to find Kate, her curls tamed in a lose bun, swaying her hips and singing along to 'making my dreams come true' that was blaring from the radio on the kitchen counter!

Kate danced barefoot in front of the stove with a spatula in hand. A full plate of pancakes, some slightly burnt, some seemingly perfect sat on the kitchen counter right next to her.

She flipped the two pancakes in the pan in front of her, before she put the spatula down, grabbed the fork and began to flip the strips of bacon, still dancing and singing off beat. It sure was a sight.

James watched her dance and sing just a little bit longer, before he cleared his throat to let his presence be known and Kate jerked around in surprise since she'd clearly not heard him come into the kitchen.

She stopped dancing and singing and her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink when she took in the grin displayed on his face, "How long have you been watchin' me?"

"Long enough to watch you boogie, Ginger Rogers!" He stepped up to her and framed her face with his hands to draw her closer and placed a sweet kiss to her lips.

His hands dropped down to her stomach, and he pulled back from the kiss just long enough to tease her, "Your moves ain't too bad, Sugarpop, but I wouldn't go audition for American Idol anytime soon."

She shoved him playfully in the chest and he pretended like it had actually hurt when he rubbed the spot repeatedly, and teased some more, "Hey, easy now, that's no way to treat the man that's making your dreams come true."

"Shut up, James." She pretended to be offended that he didn't like her singing, but at the same time she couldn't keep the smile of off her face long enough for him to take her seriously.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around, looking over her shoulder, "Breakfast smells good. I'm starvin'!"

"Then sit." She ordered and nodded towards the kitchen island that also served as a breakfast bar. "It's pretty much done."

"Need some help?" he offered, but she gave him a nudge with her protruding belly when she turned towards him, "Sit, James, I've got this."

"Alright." He conceded and pulled out a bar stool to sit.

Kate turned the volume on the radio down and proceeded to bring all the food over to the kitchen island. A plate full of pancakes, maple syrup, a plate full of crispy bacon, and a pan full of scrambled eggs. Two plates, forks, knives, and two cups of freshly brewed coffee.

They talked while they ate, discussing possible baby names, but so far they couldn't agree on a single one, let alone a middle name.

"I have a middle name." Kate proclaimed.

"I'm well aware of that, Freckles, but that don't mean our kid's gotta have one." He offered and took another sip of his coffee. "How about we decide on a first name first, Sweetheart."

"Okay." She agreed, "But I still think there's nothing wrong with having a middle name."

He shrugged and took another sip.

Silence filled the room for a moment with only the radio playing oldies in the background as big heavy raindrops began to fall outside. It had been pretty cold, but dry lately and the sudden weather change taking both of them by surprise when their heads turned towards the kitchen window simultaneously.

Thunder roared outside and Kate took a sip from her coffee, "I love the rain."

"I know." James replied and smiled back at her. "You mentioned that a time or two."

Kate smiled contently as she watched the rain drops hit the window, when James picked up a handful of scrambled eggs and threw it at her.

She brushed the egg off of herself and glared at him, "What did you do that for?"

"Just trying to get your attention over here, Freckles. That's all." He smirked.

"Oh really?" She raised her eyebrows and a smirk crossed her face as well, when she picked up some eggs and tossed them back at him too.

He ran his hands through his hair, but still smirked at her as he tried to get the eggs out of his hair, and drawled, "Darlin', darlin', … you're just gonna end up makin' a big ol' mess that you're gonna have to clean up afterwards."

"You started it!" She retorted in her best imitation of a preschooler, before she added, "Besides, I made breakfast, so it's your turn to clean up."

"Is that so?" He asked as he put his coffee cup down and reached for the half empty bottle of maple syrup and quickly stood up.

Kate jumped off of her bar stool just as quickly and took a tentative step backwards with her hands up, palms facing out, ready to keep him at arm's length, yet fearing his imminent attack, "James … come on. Don't. That stuff's really, really sticky." She tried to plead with him but to no avail.

He took off after her and chased her around the small kitchen. He could've had her more than once, but that big old belly served quiet well as a shield and a constant reminder that he couldn't roughhouse with her now like they used to before she'd gotten pregnant.

Her shrieking and him laughing, he finally grabbed a hold of her from behind and practically pulled her to the kitchen floor with him.

Tussling around between fighting and kissing, she eventually ended up on her back with him hovering right above her.

"Alright." She threw her hands up in defeat, "You got me."

That's when she saw him reach for the syrup bottle that had ended up on the floor next to them and began to beg at the mischievous look she saw in his eyes. "No, no, no … please don't." She tried to wriggle out from under him.

But her pleading found deaf ears, when he turned the bottle upside down and drops of syrup began to slowly drip and pour onto her chin and neck.

He tossed the bottle aside and dipped down right away to kiss the syrup off of her neck.

Kate closed her eyes at the sensation and her hands that were trying to push him away were now actually clinging to his bare back to pull him closer, but her belly was in the way.

He pulled back, his eyes filled with lust now and hers were too when she looked back at him wondering why he'd stopped. He wiped his thumb over the syrup on her chin, "Wanna taste?"

She nodded eagerly, her mind wondering for just a second where she'd get to taste him, but when he simply rubbed his syrup laden thumb over his own lips she was almost disappointed.

_Almost._

However the disappointment vanished when his lips crashed onto hers and he hungrily fought her tongue for dominance, but it didn't take long before things began to slow down and became more subdued and sensual instead.

James rolled onto his side, not wanting to put this much weight onto her stomach any longer and pulled Kate along to face him. His fingers roamed over her shirt, his thumbs teasing her nipples through the thin fabric until they hardened under his touch.

Kate's hands roamed down his chest, her short nails skimming the skin of his torso before she tugged away at the drawstring waistband of his sweats and let her hand glide inside. Teasingly playing with the patch of hair before she began to stroke him gently.

James groaned into her mouth and to her surprise pulled away from the kiss, but just long enough to yank the big shirt she'd slept in off of her.

Her nipples were already hard from his previous touch, yet he couldn't keep from teasing her some more as he ran both his hands over her chest. Squeezing and teasing her nipples, and causing her to moan into his mouth now instead.

Both their breathing was getting labored, but neither of them had any intentions of slowing down, more the opposite.

Kate pulled her hand out of his pants and began to push the fabric down past his hips, when he let go of her breasts and joined in to support her effort.

Tugging and pulling, and legs kicking, desperate and clumsily, not smooth like it usually is in movies, but the pants were finally off of him when he reached down for the panties she'd pulled on this morning. But instead of pulling the panties off of her, he took a hold of them with both his hands and tore them off of her instead.

Kate pulled away from the kiss now and stared back at him as if to say, _What did you do that for?_, but he simply tossed the ripped piece of fabric across the room and reassured her with a mumbled promise against her pulse point, "I'll buy you new ones."

With the belly too big now for him to be on top, he turned her on her other side and got closer to spoon her instead.

Kate moaned when she could feel the tip of him slowly entering her and reached blindly back, her hand tucking on his hips so he would begin moving, and James gladly obliged.

James held her body tightly against his as he slowly moved in and out of her. She was so moist, warm and inviting, he simply couldn't get close enough. He kissed her shoulder and teased her earlobe with his teeth while never disrupting his steady rhythm of thrusts.

It wasn't long before he could feel the familiar pull, the gradual build up that told him that his release was soon to follow, so he slowed down instead.

He wanted to draw this out. The feeling of being with her like this was too amazing to make it come to an end too quickly.

After all, this wasn't just some quick fuck!

_Hell no!_

This was making love to his wife! So he took his time!

"James?" She moaned pleadingly and tugged on his hip to get him to pick up the pace again.

"Shhhh …" He tried to placate her with whispers in her ear. "No need to rush this, Sweetheart." And continued on with the slower, yet teasingly pace, but did proceed to reach around her hips and let his hand follow the downward slope.

He let his fingers explore and stroke her with just the right amount of pressure, causing Kate to moan out loud once more and he could feel her beginning to tighten around him.

It wasn't long before James could tell she was at the brink of her orgasm and finally gave in and let his thrusts speed up again.

Kate came long, hard and loudly. Her quivering walls milking him deep within her until James too went over the edge and spilled himself inside of her.

Both were breathing heavily when his hips jerked against her for the last time and finally stilled.

He remained anchored to her for just a few moments longer, kissed her naked shoulder repeatedly before he eventually slipped out of her as he rolled back onto his back.

Kate turned around to face him now and James draped his arm around her once more.

The music could be heard over the sound of their still labored breathing while they remained contently still in each other's arms on the kitchen floor.

James leaned closer to her, brushing some hair that was stuck to her glistening forehead away and gently kissed her temple, "I love you."

"I love you!"

XXX

2 days later, on the outskirts of Miami, Florida

They had stopped last night in Gainesville, but it had been a long two days of driving, especially considering Kate's condition. Everything seemed just more strenuous now that she was in her last trimester of the pregnancy.

But Kate and James were on the last stretch of their trip now, heading down south on I-95.

The topic at hand once again was baby names, and both of them came to realize that it was a whole lot harder to name a child then they had originally thought.

It seemed that every name Kate found pretty or nice, James either didn't like outright, or he'd known a guy and didn't want his kid named after such and such. And the same problem occurred whenever James made his suggestions to Kate as well.

So enthralled in their own little world, neither James nor Kate noticed the cop car that started following them a few yards back until it was too late and the lights began flashing, suggesting they wanted James to pull over.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Where you speeding?" Kate asked perplexed and looked over her shoulder as James slowed the car down and pulled over on side of the highway.

"Probably." He admitted and grumbled a curse once more to himself as he began to dig his driver's license out of his wallet.

Just then Kate reached over and took his hand, and when he looked up he saw tears began to prick the rims of her eyes, "What's wrong, Freckles?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see the police officer get out of his car behind them, but her eyes remained glued on James'. "I'll explain everything, James, but just promise me you won't do or say anything that will end you in jail, no matter what."

"What?" He looked back at her confused, "What the hell are you talkin' 'bout?"

Just then Kate dared a quick glance in the direction of the approaching cop and James caught the flicker of fear in her eye, "You know this cop, Freckles?"

"I do." She replied and begged once more, "Promise me, James."

"Fine." He retorted while his mind tried to put the pieces together, "I'll behave myself, ain't gonna argue with the guy. Nobody's going to jail." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The officer appeared beside the driver door and tapped on the glass. Kate wiped at her face to hide the tears that had fallen. James turned his attention away from his visibly upset wife and quickly rolled down the window, unsure what Kate was so afraid of and how exactly this guy fit into her past.

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	3. What are we doing?

I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but that family emergency that I'd mentioned before has taken a turn for the worse. I usually try to keep my personal stuff private, but I'm sad to say that my grandma passed away recently and I'm still dealing with the aftermath of it all. She'd been sick for quite some time, but was actually doing better, when she un-expectantly took a turn for the worse again. We were very close and she's greatly missed. I actually thought writing again would take my mind of things, but I simply couldn't pull a decent chapter together, no matter how hard I tried. Some time has passed now and here I am with my revised (x100) version of the third chapter. I hope some of you are still around to read this. Please review.

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James tucked the car registration and the warning slip he'd just received into the glove compartment, before he started the car again. His face was a blank page, not displaying any of the turmoil he suddenly felt inside.

With a quick glance in the rearview mirror, he saw the cop car pull back onto the highway, before he himself put his car in gear and merged back into traffic.

The silence in the car was deafening, only interrupted by the occasional sniffle coming from Kate, but James refused to look at her for the longest time.

Kate stared out the passenger side window, avoiding him while she cried silent tears and wiped her nose with a tissue. She wanted to explain, but couldn't quiet find the words just yet.

It wasn't until James pulled into the parking lot of their motel, that she dared to shoot him a look.

He parked, without a word climbed out of the car and headed towards the manager's office to check in.

Kate watched him disappear into the building and sighed as she pulled down the visor to examine her tear streaked face in the small rectangular mirror.

She had lied. She had lied so many times to so many people, that truth be told, she'd lost track of all the different lies she'd told in her 32 years of life. Yet the moment she saw her ex-husband get out of the police car behind them, she remembered this particular lie and knew things were about to turn ugly.

This lie that had come back to haunt her now, was one that was so incredibly unnecessary.

Five months ago she had been wrapped up in his arms in his old tent on the beach. All was good. She'd taken the pregnancy test earlier that day, and somehow the prospect of both of them having created a child together had turned over a new leaf. They had talked and talked, for hours, about their fears, their hopes and their secretive pasts as well.

And yes, she had told him about the man she'd met while she was working in a diner in Miami. She had told James about the man named Kevin Callis, who she'd fallen in love with and had married. She had told him everything about their rise and fall, unafraid - for the first time in a long time- to let James in on the deepest darkest secret that had - to her own surprise- never been revealed by the press.

But there was just one tiny detail she'd left out of her story. Well, not just left out as much as twisted it around. In her version of her first marriage, she, the fugitive wanted for murder, wasn't married to a Miami dale police officer. No. Instead Kevin was simply a security guard for some large pharmaceutical company.

Kate shook her head to herself, folded the visor back up and ran a hand over the expanse of her protruding stomach. She couldn't even really recall why she'd lied to him about Kevin's occupation.

Was it because she was afraid he'd think she was crazy, if he found out she'd gone and married a cop while she was on the run _from the cops_?

Or was it because she didn't want James taking obvious jabs at a cop that didn't realize his own wife was currently featured on several most wanted posters all over the country?

Maybe it was a combination of both. She wasn't sure anymore, all she knew now how incredibly stupid she'd been to have lied in the first place.

Just then James reemerged from the building and headed back over to the car. He got in, started the engine and pulled the car around the building where he parked in the parking spot right in front of their room for the night.

He pulled the key from the ignition and had his hand already on the door handle when Kate reached over and put her hand on his arm, "James." she pleated for his attention and he actually turned to look at her.

"What?" He said, and by the tone of his voice he was clearly still pissed at her.

"I'm sorry." She stated the simple truth.

"Sorry you lied or sorry you got caught lying?" He spat angrily and got out of the car before she could answer him.

James brought their luggage in the room and Kate followed him quietly inside.

The room wasn't very large, but it actually looked clean and inviting.

James had plopped down onto the edge of the bed, a scowl on his face when he began flipping through the different channels on the TV.

After several hours spend in the car, Kate simply couldn't hold it any longer and quickly disappeared into the bathroom.

She could hear the distinct sound of the room door falling shut, so she tried to hurry, but by the time she made it he was long gone.

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They'd passed this bar on their way to the motel. It was just a few blocks away, and when Kate had disappeared into the bathroom, he saw his chance to take a much needed walk without having a full blown fight first. So he left the car keys on the dresser and disappeared out of the room.

James settled down onto the empty seat by the bar and waited rather patiently for the bartender to take his order.

The big gulp of whiskey burned his throat in an old familiar way and he raised his hand to the barkeep, signaling he was ready for the next round.

It was only early afternoon and he looked around the rather empty bar. These seedy kind of places used to be his second home. And even now, he felt rather comfortable even though he didn't know a single soul in this joint.

But that feeling of belonging, didn't last too long when he absentmindedly glanced at his phone to check if she'd called or texted him yet. Just then he suddenly came to realize how much Kate had him wrapped around her finger even when she wasn't around.

One way or another, Freckles had managed to make a god damn honest man out of him. A loyal husband, a family man ... a man who shouldn't be sitting in a place like this alone, because as much as he used to love his bachelor lifestyle and the freedom that came with it, he now simply loved being with her more.

But at the moment, he was pissed and instead of going back to the room, back to her, he raised his glass to the barkeep for a third refill instead.

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When she realized that he hadn't taken the car, Kate had convinced herself that he just went to the front office to buy something from the vending machine.

But here she was, over five hours later. It was already dark out and there was still no sign of him.

She glanced at her phone once again. Her background was a picture of them laughing. A candid snapshot that Claire had taken on Christmas morning and Kate had loved it so much.

The texts she'd send him a while ago were all still unread, and Kate contemplated texting him again when a loud knock on the door startled her from her thoughts.

She hurried to the door and opened it fast, with her apology already on her lips, "I'm so sorry, James, I-" but she stopped and her eyes went wide when instead of James, she found none other than her ex-husband Kevin standing before her.

"Hi", he said with a soft tone of voice and it became clear to her then that he was still at a loss for words right now, just like he had been earlier when he'd seen her in the passenger seat of their car. Their acknowledgment of each other and conversation had been short and sweet, yet informative enough to send James into a brooding state of mind.

"Hi." she tentatively replied, unsure of what to say herself.

And in that very moment, looking back into the eyes of the man she'd once loved with all of her heart, she realized that she didn't love him anymore. Not even a little.

She suddenly realized that from the moment they'd been pulled over, she had hardly given him a second thought and how meeting her like this would affect him. As terrible as that thought was, her main concern was for James and how she could make this up to him. How she could make this right and take back the lie she'd told him all those months ago.

But only now, standing here face to face with Kevin she let herself acknowledge that thought. She was over him. She was over Tom. She was over Jack. Her heart only belonged to one man and one man alone.

"I know this is weird, but do you mind if I come in?"

_I do mind! _

"No, of course not." she said and stepped aside for him to enter the room.

They stood in awkward silence for a long moment, until Kate decided to break the ice and speak up. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't really know what to say."

"Me too." he replied as he looked around the empty room, before his eyes settled back on her, but before he could actually say whatever he came here to say, Kate interrupted him and spoke up instead.

"As weird and terrifying as this is, I'm actually glad I ran into you."

"Are you?" He questioned her words, remembering her earlier reaction on the side of the highway.

She nodded, and tears pricked her eyes once again. It was now or never.

The guilt about their marriage was something she'd carried with her for such a long time. And even though she'd worked real hard to build up walls and hide those ugly truths from her past behind them, she finally recognized this moment here and now for what it was. She knew she could never undo the things she'd done, but right now she at least had a chance to make peace with it. And so she did.

"I know there was just this one in a million chance that we'd run into you, and James didn't know the whole truth about you and is mad at me right now, but in the end ..." she dapped at her eyes with the tissue she'd been clutching in her hand, "... in the end it's for the better.

The truth is finally out, there are no more secrets between us and at the same time I'm finally able to apologize to you ..." she sniffed "... for everything I did, everything I did to you. I'm so so sorry Kevin, I honestly never meant to hurt you. I was young, stupid and so lonely, and I'm not trying to make any excuses, but by the time I found out that you were a cop, it was already too late. I was already in love with you and you were in love with me. And because of that I made a terrible mistake. I made the choice to marry you in spite of it all, even though I knew from the very first moment I laid eyes on you that it wasn't going to last."

He nodded and his eyes never left hers. She could see the turmoil brewing behind them and waited for the blow that she instinctively knew would come. Not in the physical sense. No, Kevin wasn't the kind of man that would ever lay hands on a woman, but she knew she'd hurt him and she knew he was about to fill her in on just how much damage she had done.

But instead of berating her, he surprised her once more with his simple words, "You broke my heart."

She knew he was telling the truth. She knew that this was what she had done. And in her nightmares when she'd imagined how meeting him again would play out, similar words were always uttered.

"I'm sorry. I truly am." She sniffed at the raw emotion hanging between them. The sudden urge to run was so overwhelming, and Kate welcomed it for the old familiar friend that feeling had always been. Her most constant companion, the voice in her head ... _run, run, run_!

But she didn't. Besides the fact that she had just started her eight month of pregnancy, and not really in any condition to take off running, she simply realized that it wasn't necessary anymore. The worst was behind her, or so she thought until James pushed through the still open door and entered the room.

"Well, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, what do we have here?" His voice was slurred as his eyes traveled accusingly from Kate to Kevin and back to Kate again, while one hand held onto a six-pack of beer.

The smell of stale smoke and alcohol entered the room along with him, he leaned against the doorframe in an effort to keep his balance, and put the six-pack on the small table beside him, "Guess I came back too early after all and broke up your little reunion here. Well, fuckin' shame on me." His voice was laced with sarcasm despite his inebriated state of mind.

"James ..." Kate began to plead with him, she had so much to say to him but then again - there really was no use if he wouldn't remember any of it later on.

"Has he been drinking?" Kevin directed the question at Kate instead of James himself, but before Kate could even utter a response, James spoke up.

"She ain't my keeper, Officer Do-Right! You've got somethin' to say to me, you go on right ahead and say it to my fucking face, buddy boy." He smirked, clearly enjoying himself being able to confront the other man like this.

Kate finally snapped out of her temporary state of paralysis, when she noted the now angry expression on Kevin's face as he took a step towards James. This was truly turning into her worst nightmare.

"Stop!" she demanded from the both of them as she took a step forward to serve as a human barrier between the two agitated men. "Both of you. Stop!"

She stepped in front of James, her back turned towards him and glanced up at Kevin, "I think you better go."

"Hell, don't leave on my account, Bobby." James drawled and stood up straighter to be at eyelevel with other man. He appeared so nonchalant about it, but Kate knew all too well what he was doing.

The way he was acting right now had always been James' defense mechanism for as long as she could remember.

He was hurt, angry, and on top of it all, drunk. Surely he'd build up his usual walls for self-preservation and say something crude and hurtful directed at her next. She had no doubt about that. This is what he'd always done in the past, out of fear of being rejected by her, he'd rather push her away first.

"Don't mind me, I'm just the son of a bitch who paid for this god damn room for ya'll to have your little date night."

Kate turned just in time to see him glance suggestively over to the still made-up bed behind Kevin, before he grabbed the beer from the table once more and viciously suggested, "Maybe I oughta be the one to head back out, 'cause it looks to me like you ain't gotten around to the makin' up part just yet."

He leered at Kate just then and added, "This one's _realllllly goooood_ at makin' up, if ya' know what I mean?!"

"Don't talk about her like that." scoffed Kevin back at him.

"You're drunk!" she retorted angrily at the same time, and turned her full attention to him now, "And I know you don't mean any of it."

"The hell I don't." He replied with malice in his voice, and his eyes only on her now.

Kate frowned with disgust and willed herself not to start crying again. She knew he really didn't mean any of it. She knew he was just lashing out because he felt betrayed by her, but regardless of the reasons, his words still stung.

"That's enough." Kevin had had enough of the exchange and stepped forward. He reached out and touched Kate's shoulder in an attempt to usher her out of the way to confront the drunk man himself.

But James saw the other man's hand on her shoulder and it suddenly snapped him out of his state of self-loathing.

All his anger was suddenly directed solely towards the cop in front of him, when he angrily brushed his hand away from her, stepped up close, grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and hissed at the man, "Don't you fucking touch her, don't you ever fucking touch her!"

The police training took over and a struggle began so quickly that it took Kate a moment to realize what was happening before she pulled on James' arm and then pushed with all her might against Kevin to separate the two men before things truly got out of hand. "No." she screamed at them, "Stop it. Right. Now."

Kevin willingly took a step back at her pleading, but reached for his cuffs, while Kate urged James to calm down and stop this nonsense.

James' anger flared up once more, "What now, Officer? You're gonna arrest me, huh? Hide behind your fucking batch?" he dared the other man to try.

That's when Kate turned back around, saw the cuffs in Kevin's hand and looked up at her ex-husband with disapproval, "You can't be serious?"

Kevin stated the obvious, "He attacked me, Kate." Her real name felt so wrong rolling off of his tongue.

"It's a misunderstanding." Kate replied angrily, "And he's clearly had a few drinks too many. He wouldn't have done any of this if he was sober."

"I ain't lettin' you put them damn cuffs on me without a fight, Hoss?" James interrupted and tried to take a few steps towards the other man once again.

But Kate stopped him in his tracks and angrily turned her attention towards him just long enough to hiss "Shut up, James" in his direction.

Kate turned around once more and confronted Kevin when she now began to state the obvious to him, "He is my husband." she shook her head, "You can't arrest him for this."

"Let 'em have a go at me, Freckles. I ain't afraid to throw down with this son of a bitch." James once again chimed into the conversation. His words still laced with drunken hatred towards the other man.

Kate glared at him over her shoulder and it seemed to do the trick, because James finally kept his mouths shut long enough for Kate to confront her ex-husband in her own words. "If you do this ... if you do this, you know it will blow up in your face. You know the press will get a hold of our history, our story, and it will be on every front page of every gossip rag across the globe. Is that really what you want, Kevin? Because I sure as hell don't!"

He sighed and shook his head, his eyes averting hers when he reluctantly tucked his cuffs away again.

In that very instant Kate was quick to turn towards James, a knowing look on her face, pointed a warning finger at him and shook her head.

"Don't!" was all she said and prevented him successfully from directing yet another insult against Kevin.

She could feel her heart racing in her chest, when she looked back at her former lover standing just a few feet away from her, "I really think you should go now. I'm sorry, but I think it's for the best."

Kevin cleared his throat and without another word left the motel room and walked out of her life for good. Kate gladly closed and locked the door behind him.

James sat down on the edge of the bed. The worn out mattress sagged under the weight of him as he ran a hand over his weary face.

Kate watched him and wondered for a moment just how drunk he truly was and if he'd remember any of this when he would wake up the next morning.

He leaned back and stretched out on the bed behind him, he closed his eyes, but his voice was still loud and mean, "Ain't too late to change your mind, Freckles. I'm sure he's still out in the parking lot pining after you."

_The self-loathing bastard had reemerged._

He lashed out at her and she'd take off running, that was how they usually had done this all too familiar dance in the past. But they'd come so far since then, or at least so she'd thought. Right now it felt a whole lot like 'two steps forward, one step back', but she simply refused for that to be true.

She'd hurt him today. She'd hurt him badly. The lie itself wasn't that big, but it wasn't really what she'd lied about. It was the 'when' she'd chosen to lie. By telling this stupid lie, she'd tainted a memory, a good one at that. The memory of their last night together on their beach. That day and night had meant something, and now it was forever tainted by the stupid lie she'd told.

So yeah, she'd hurt him and this was simply his way of dealing with the pain.

He lifted his head off the bed just long enough to glance at her, "Ain't ya' gonna skedaddle after him, Kate?" He spat her name out like it was an insult.

"No, James, I'm not." Kate let out a sigh of frustration, but with her face held high she stepped towards him, mentally bracing herself for the next verbal assault that was sure to follow.

She pulled one of the chairs closer to the bed and sat, lifted one of his feet up on her knees and began to untie his timberland boots for him. One after the other.

Physically he didn't resist at all, verbally was yet another story. "What the hell do ya' think ya' doin'?" He questioned her from his position on the bed.

The second boot hit the floor with a thump, and she pulled his socks off of his feet as well, tossed them on the floor beside his boots, "Getting you ready for bed."

When there was silence, she thought for a moment that he might've fallen asleep, but when she stood and leaned over him to undo his pants, he smirked and opened his eyes once more. "I bet, darlin', but this ride ain't open for business no more." All the anger in his voice had been replaced with the sound of amusement.

She couldn't stop herself from smirking at his words, wondering if he was challenging her somehow.

But she was tired herself. It had been a long and emotionally draining day for them both.

She yanked on the waist of his jeans and she could've sworn for a moment there he'd actually arched up for her to get the fabric past his hips, and eventually all the way passed his ankles.

His eyes were closed once again, but she didn't let it bother her when she tucked on his arm, trying to get him to sit up for her now. "Can you sit up?"

He squinted up at her again, and grunted when he reluctantly came up to a sitting position.

In one swift move Kate pulled the dark grey Henley over his head and tossed it onto the chair with his pair of jeans.

She draped his arm around her shoulder and encouraged him to get up, "Come on, James. Get up."

"What are we doing?" He questioned her, but to her surprise he followed her lead and actually stood up long enough for her to pull the covers off of the bed.

_Damn, he was heavy!_

"We're going to bed, James." she eased him back down onto the mattress and ushered him to the right spot.

His head hid the pillow and within minutes he was out cold.

Kate reached for his arm und undid his watch for him, before she placed it on the nightstand beside him. She pulled the sheet and blanket over him and brushed his hair out of his face, "I know you can't hear me, but I meant what I'd said in the car. I am sorry. I shouldn't have lied."

She clicked off the light on his nightstand and got changed herself.

A few minutes later, she climbed in the bed beside him and, in her need for some sort of comfort after this terrible day, she tried to spoon him, but it felt rather awkward with her protruding belly pushing against his back.

Just then, in that moment, when she was just about to turn around, she felt his hand tug on hers.

He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. The three day gruff on his face scratching her skin in that familiar and comforting way she'd grown to love.

She wasn't sure if he was even aware of his actions, she highly doubted that he was, but he turned around to face her. And even though his forehead bumped into hers in a clumsy sort of way, it was the sweetest thing when he tried to kiss it all better.

It didn't take long for them to take their usual position of him spooning her. Her body snug against his, with his arms wrapped around her and the blankets pulled up all the way to their noses.

And even though they didn't make love that night, Kate knew that everything would be alright in the morning.

She loved him with all of her heart and he loved her ... and in the end, that was all that really mattered.

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I hope there are people left to read this. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and leave a review. Thank you.


	4. Shit happens

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Author's Note: This is going to be a bit of a long author's note, so bear with me please.

First off, I wanted to thank all of you who took the time to review my story so far. I really appreciate it so much and it motivates me a lot to keep on going with this story.

Secondly, I wanted to address a review I received from a 'guest' that asked if I've ever considered writing Skate AU, since we all know that Skate weren't each other's 'true love' in the end. And yes, I have considered AU stories, but it was hard for me to write these kinds of stories because I think that the experience on the island ultimately shaped both Sawyer and Kate into the person that we knew and loved. And it's very hard for me to picture any kind of scenario that would have the same effect on them as that island did.

Okay, the second part of that question, is about them not being 'end game in canon', but I simply don't see it that way anymore. Many of my Skater Friends, hate the ending of Lost and refuse to rewatch it because of that reason. And granted, the first time I watched it I was sad too that Sawyer and Kate weren't together in that church scene. But by now, I've probably watched Lost a dozen times, including Season 6, and my feelings about that season and 'the end' have just done a complete 180. The answer as to why in detail is too long to write here, but the short answer would be that our Losties didn't wake up through their 'true Love/soulmate', but rather their regret. James regretted Juliet dying, right after she thought he loved Kate more and therefore she'd loose him anyways. Juliette regretted breaking up and leaving/dying the way she did. Jack regretted not believing in John Locke, leaving Kate and the whole situation with his father. And even though as skaters have to admit that Kate did love Jack, but her regret was not leaving him (I believe because she got to say that she loved him and she got to say her goodbyes) but she regretted everything that had happened with Aaron (but that doesn't make Aaron her soulmate). Afterwards she had to be told by Desmond what to do next. One of the best examples for my way of looking at the end is Sun and Jin. They loved each other even in the sideways world, yet their daughter that they'd left behind 'woke them up'! This is my way of looking at the end, and I challenge you all to watch season 6 again with this in mind and maybe you'll see it differently too. That being said, I know that Jack loved Kate and Kate loved Jack. But Kate also loved Sawyer and Sawyer loved her, but he loved Juliette too. It's simply hard for me to believe that after Sawyer and Kate left the island together, they didn't eventually (after some grieving time) rekindle their romance.

Okay, sorry, I didn't mean for it to be as long as it is. Thanks for reading and feel free to private message me if you want to talk about it some more, I love to hear from other Skaters!

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He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was that woke him up. It could've been the sound of the motel room door falling shut, or maybe it was the sound of his car's motor coming to life right outside the room, but it also could've simply been the sunlight that was streaming into the room rather mercilessly.

However, what he did know was that his head was pounding. A dull, yet blinding pain radiated through him as he struggled to sit up in bed. James blinked a few times until he finally regained all of his senses, and for just a split second his heart sped up in fear when he realized he was alone in the room.

_Kate was gone._

But then he noted that all of her belongings were still scattered around the room, before he saw the small piece of paper on the pillow beside him and reached for it. He looked at the nightstand for his glasses, but he'd never unpacked them, so instead he found himself squinting at the piece of paper and holding it further away from his face, hoping that his eyes would adjust.

_'Be right back, went to get breakfast!'_ was all it said. Relieved he put the paper down, although he'd figured she hadn't gone far.

With a groan, he climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to relief himself. The bathroom was still humid and the mirror above the sink was still fogged up when he entered. He looked around and saw all of Kate's things scattered around the sink as well.

As he stood there, barefoot in his boxers, he had a very vague recollection of what had happened last night. He remembered heading back to the motel, once the barkeeper had cut him off. And he thought he might've seen Kate's ex-husband, the cop, somewhere along the way, but that's all he could recall.

What happened with Kate, once he'd actually made it back here was a full blown mystery to him, but he hoped he hadn't been too big of an ass to her last night.

James flushed the toilet and reached into the shower to turn it on, when he saw Kate's body wash and shampoo sitting in the corner of the shower stall. He dropped his boxers to the ground and stepped out of them, while he waited for the water to turn warm enough.

He didn't have to wait for long and quickly disappeared under the hot stream. With his head bowed, his shoulders hunched and his palms flat against the faded yellow tiled wall, he stood still for a good five minutes as the hot water cascaded down his back and eventually pooled by his feet before it spiraled down into the drain.

The water around him drowned out the rest of the world and seemed to ease his headache to some extent. And with a somewhat clearer mind, he suddenly remembered some of the missing pieces from the previous night.

He now remembered that the cop had been here, in this motel room when he'd arrived, and even though he still couldn't recall everything that had gone down, he did remember getting into a scuffle with the other man.

_Son of a bitch! _

Shit! What the hell had he done?

He sighed in frustration and stepped out of the stream, just long enough to reach for the shampoo and lather up his hair. He suddenly felt like shit, this wasn't how he'd wanted this trip to go.

He'd have to fix this. He knew that meant he'd probably have to grovel, but he also knew that it was the right thing to do to make things right again between Kate and him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kate had a brown bag filled with breakfast sandwiches in one hand and a box of donuts clutched under her arm, while she tried to unlock the door to their room with the other hand. After quickly stepping into the room, she noticed that James was out of bed and in the shower, at least that's what she assumed, judging by the sound of water coming from the small bathroom.

She put the bag and the donuts down onto the table and propped the door open with one of his boots, before stepping back outside to get the two cups of coffee she'd left behind in the car.

Kate closed the door behind her, hung her purse over the back of one of the chairs and pulled open the curtains some more to let more sunlight illuminate the room before she sat down and began to unpack the food from the paper bag.

Even though she'd slept pretty good, which was surprising considering their fight, she still didn't really have a good morning. But despite it all, she put on a brave face, showered, got dressed and decided she'd go get them breakfast, because she knew that some food in his stomach usually eased James' hangover pains.

Just then Kate heard the bathroom door open behind her and glanced back over her shoulder to see him step into the room.

He stopped rather awkwardly in mid-stride when he realized that she was back already as he tucked the towel around his waist.

He looked incredibly inviting. His hair was still wet, yet combed back and his chest was glistening in the sunlight that was streaming in through the white sheer privacy curtains across from him.

"Morning." she greeted him with a small smile, trying to gauge his mood.

"Morning, Freckles." He answered back looking right at her with a small smile on his lips as well as he began to further step into the room. His stomach growled loudly when the smell of food and coffee reached his nostrils, and he smiled again.

His smile eased a bit of worry she'd felt about the previous day, and she gestured to the table filled with food in front of her. "I got breakfast for us." She announced almost shyly. "And coffee, too."

_The way to a man's heart is through his stomach!_ Her mother used to say that when she taught her how to cook.

He nodded gratefully, "I see that. Thanks."

James turned his back to her, began to dig through their suitcase and took his time getting dressed, while Kate sipped away on her still steaming coffee, trying her hardest to seem uninterested in what she saw.

_Easy breezy! _

Barefooted, dressed in blue jeans that hung loose on his hips and a button down shirt that he hadn't bothered to button up at all, he strutted across the small room with his usual swagger and sat down in the chair across from her, when Kate began to point out and told him everything she'd bought.

James reached for the coffee first and took a small sip as he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his free hand. He was trying his best to rub away the headache that had suddenly returned with full force.

Kate wordlessly reached behind her and pulled her purse into her lap and began searching through it until she retrieved a small plastic bottle and held it out across the table to him.

"Here! I thought you might need these." She said with a small voice and James opened his eyes to see her smirk back at him.

He smirked too when his eyes connected with hers before he reached for the bottle of ibuprofen she was holding out to him. Their fingers grazing each other's just for the briefest moment.

"You're a lifesaver, Sweetheart." He drawled as he open it and poured four pills into his hand before he quickly popped them into his mouth and swallowed them with the help of another sip of coffee.

An awkward silence filled the air between them for the longest moment while they both began to eat.

"I'm sorry." Kate finally spoke up and broke the ice. Her eyes meeting his again, "I should've told you who he really was, I should've told you he was a cop."

He sighed and put his sandwich back onto the paper in front of him and brushed the crumbs off of his hands, his eyes were now averting hers.

"I know." He huffed and cleared his throat, before he looked back up and met her gaze, "And I'm sorry too, Freckles. I ain't exactly sure what all I said or did when I got back here last night, but you know I didn't mean it."

Relief washed over her at the sound of those words and it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders. That's when all the emotions she'd fought so hard to keep inside came bubbling to the surface and tears began to brick her eyes.

Kate reached for a napkin and began dapping at her eyes when James reached across the table for her other hand.

"Freckles? Look at me." He drawled almost pleadingly trying to get her to look up at him, but when she didn't he hesitated for a brief moment before he decided to speak his mind. "Yesterday ... that damn sure wasn't our first fight and it sure as hell ain't gonna be our last, Sweetheart, because I'm in this for the long haul."

He sighed, "So ... yeah I got pissed at you and yeah I went and got drunk as a skunk in some bar, but I ain't goin' nowhere ... I'm here, Freckles, I'm here!" He proclaimed as his thumb rubbed circles across the palm of her hand.

She wiped at her face some more before she finally had the courage to return his penetrating stare, "I'm sorry ..." She tried to catch her breath between sobs. "... I'm sorry I'm such a mess, James."

Without missing a beat, he drawled, "I knew you were a mess the moment I laid eyes on you, darlin', so ain't like I didn't know what I was gettin' myself into." He smirked at her, obviously teasing to lighten the mood.

And it worked when Kate couldn't help but smile when she saw the mischief in his eyes looking back at her.

"I was embarrassed." She finally admitted after a long pause and a deep breath. "I thought you'd think I was crazy if I told you I married a cop while I was running from the cops."

He chuckled at that in spite of his headache and shrugged his shoulders at her confession. "I already knew you were crazy, honey ... an' besides, I married you, so looks like we're two peas in a pot." He grinned.

Kate shock her head at him then and smirked too. Thankfully this stupid fight was finally behind them.

But then James face grew suddenly more serious again when he looked right at her and ask, "Now on a scale of one to ten, how big of an ass was I last night?"

It was Kate's turn to ease his mind now when she smiled and teased him, "Eleven."

"Damn." He proclaimed somewhat surprised and disappointed, but looked at her for more insight.

"What?" Kate asked back at him confused as she took another sip from her coffee.

James scoffed, "Well ... ain't ya' gonna tell me what I did?"

Kate put her coffee down and grew more serious too. "When you came back, Kevin was here and ... you didn't take it too well."

_Short and sweet!_

James closed his eyes and ran his hand across his face, before he looked back at her, "I've got a vague memory of that."

She decided not to tell him the ugly words he'd spouted at her, she simply wanted to move on from all of this, so she reached across the table now and took his hand in hers, "I'm not sure why he came here, but it really doesn't matter, James. I don't love him anymore. I haven't loved him in a very long time ... he's nothing more than a part of my past. So ... can we please just forget about yesterday and last night and do what we came here to do?"

He nodded, "You got it, Freckles."

They smiled contently at each other, but Kate suddenly winced and clutched her protruding belly, James looked alarmed.

"Everythin' alright, Freckles?" He asked obviously concerned.

She leaned back in her chair as she rubbed her hand across her stomach and winced again before she smiled in discomfort, "Yeah, it's just ... it's like he's playing soccer in there or something."

Kate tucked on his hand and he quickly obliged when he moved his chair around the table closer to hers and she pressed his spread out hand hard against the right side of her abdomen.

"Do you feel that?" she smiled the biggest smile with her teeth showing.

He nodded and smiled back at her, "Hell yeah, I feel that." But then he smirked mischievously before he added, "Guess that's what'cha get for not stickin' with the decaf, darlin'!"

She rolled her eyes at him dramatically, yet a small smile formed on her lips, "I'm allowed one cup a day, James."

"I know." He nodded, smiling teasingly at her before they both grew quiet again.

With his hand still on her stomach, and her hand on top of his to keep it just in the right spot, he looked back at her and met her eyes and they both smiled contently at each other when the baby kicked again.

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Kate was behind the wheel of the car and James was riding shotgun when they pulled to a stop across the street of a playground.

James reached inside his backpack and pulled out a set of binoculars and aimed them at the playground.

"You brought binoculars?" Kate looked at him in disbelieve.

"Yeah." He shrugged without averting his eyes. "Why?"

"A guy sitting in a car with binoculars, checking out a playground full of kids running around. Doesn't sound creepy at all."

He frowned and lowered them from his eyes, "Well, what does that make you then, darlin'?" He paused for a moment, and put them back to his eyes, "Son of a bitch. There she is."

"Where?" Kate asked and he pointed, handing her the binoculars, so she could see for herself.

"Are you sure that's her?"

James looked at the photo in his lap and handed it to Kate, "Yeah, it's her, Freckles."

"Alright then." Kate said and pulled the navigation app up on her phone. "What's her address? It's gotta be close to here since they walked." Kate asked.

"What the hell for?" He looked rather confused back at her for a long moment.

She shrugged her shoulders at him as if it was the most normal thing in the world, "'Cause she's here now. She just got here, so we've got at least thirty minutes, maybe even an hour to snoop around her place."

"Breaking and entering? That's your plan, Freckles?"

"I didn't say anything like that. But let's just go and see what we can find." She retorted with determination.

X

Kate fiddled with the lock on the backdoor while James nervously looked around. He was just about to say that he'd changed his mind about her plan to 'just look around for a minute', when she'd actually managed to get the door unlocked.

"See." she said as she pushed open the door, "It's like riding a bike."

"Yeah, yeah." He placated her enthusiasm and ushered her inside and out of sight from potential neighbors and witnesses.

The back door led straight into the kitchen, and both of them stepped inside and began to look around.

Kate looked at the pictures on the fridge and something stood out to her that they hadn't read in Ben's papers. "I think she's seeing someone."

James stepped up beside her and saw the pictures she was talking about, but that thought suddenly made him incredibly uneasy. "We need to leave, Freckles. Now!"

"Wait. Let's take a look around the rest of the house."

"If that's her boyfriend, then he might show up here unannounced."

But Kate walked further into the house, ignoring James' pleas to leave this place.

She walked through the living room, with James following her every step, and pointed out more pictures.

"Look." She said when one particular photograph caught her eye. It was a picture of Rachel and Juliette, both laughing out loud.

James picked up the frame and stared at it for a long moment, his face displaying so much regret.

Kate stood beside him and broke the silence, "She's takes good pictures, she's very photogenic."

"Yeah." He replied in a much quieter voice. "She did."

"Do you ..." She hesitated for a moment, but then followed through with her question. "Do you have a picture of her?"

James put the frame down and gave Kate a look she couldn't quiet decipher, "If I did, don't you think you would know."

He left her standing alone in the living room, while he ventured on, no longer asking her to go.

Kate wasn't really sure why she did it, but it just seemed like the right thing to do when she dug out her phone from her bag and snapped several pictures of Juliette's photo.

Kate hurried and found James in the laundry room. There sat a clean load of unfolded clothes in a basket in front of the dryer and it became clear as day that this guy she was seeing must be practically living here, because half of the clothes where men's.

"Son of a bitch." he proclaimed annoyed when he held up several pieces of clothing for her to see.

"Okay. You were right." Kate conceded, "Maybe we shouldn't be here. Let's -" But her words were cut off by James' hand, and then they both heard the front door close and the sound of someone walking inside.

James took his hand from her mouth and raised a finger to his own lips, signaling for her to keep quiet.

Kate nodded in response, when James began to look around the room for anything he could potentially use as a weapon. He grabbed the iron that was sitting high up on a shelf.

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to hurt this guy. But if it came down to it, he'd take no chances and knock the guy unconscious, hopefully before he got a good look at Kate and him.

They could hear him walk around the house and they hoped and prayed that he wasn't about to feel the need to get some laundry done.

But when they finally heard him on the steps and then the distinct sound of footsteps upstairs, James finally let out the breath he'd been holding.

He grabbed a hold of Kate's hand and tucked her along as he slowly and quietly headed for the backdoor. Kate didn't argue, and followed his every move.

Wordlessly but hand in hand, they both slipped out the back door, hurried through the backyard and walked as fast as they could back to their car that was parked just a couple yards down the street.

Kate took the keys out of her bag, but before she could get in, James grabbed the keys from her and ushered her to the passenger side instead. He held the door open for her, still not saying a word, and waited for her to get in before he closed the door for her.

He rushed to the other side, started the car and drove away as quickly as he could.

Both their breathing was labored as if they had just run a marathon and neither spoke a word.

A minute or two had passed and he was merging into main road traffic, when he finally dared to take a look at Kate beside him. Her cheeks were flushed, but her chest was not moving as rapidly anymore.

"Jesus Christ, Freckles." His heartbeat was starting to normalize again too.

"I thought he was gonna find us." She confessed, and clutched her stomach. "That was such a rush." And she smiled the biggest smile and reached over to take his hand in hers.

When the car came to a stop at a red light and he glanced at her again, it suddenly dawned on him. She'd always be that girl that would volunteer for some crazy ass mission, even now that she was eight months along. It was in her blood, it was in her veins and even though he'd been scared out of his mind just a few moments ago, for her, for them - he couldn't help but love her it!

Another couple minutes passed when Kate spoke up. "She seems happy, James. I mean at the park with her son, she looked happy there. She has a nice house and a man in her life. She seems to be doing okay." She paused but before James could even reply, she added, "Did you see the flowers in the kitchen?"

"Yeah." He nodded and looked over at her, "I saw them. He must've pissed her off about something."

Kate rolled her eyes, "You don't know that."

"Freckles." He drawled, "There's only two reasons a man brings home a big bouquet of flowers like that. He's either guilty of something, or it's their anniversary. And since Ben's guy didn't even know about this fella, it's unlikely that it's the latter, darlin'."

"Or he's just trying to be nice." Kate replied not buying into his theory. "Men bring flowers for all kinds of reasons, James. To make her smile, to show he cares about her."

An image of Juliette with the flower he'd given her suddenly flashed through his mind and took all the argumentative wind out of his sail. "Yeah." He nodded, "Maybe you're right. Maybe he was just trying to show her he cared."

Kate looked back at him, clearly surprised at his reply. She studied him for a long moment before she asked, "So what do you think? Do you feel better now, knowing that Juliette's sister and nephew seem to be doing alright?

He thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I do."

"Good." Kate said with relief in her voice. "Then let's go home."

XXX

It was only one in the afternoon when they made it back to their motel.

Kate started packing up her things in the bathroom, when James stepped up and leaned against the open doorframe. "Check out was at eleven, so you know they already charged us for another night."

She looked back at him over her shoulder. "So?"

"It's a twelve hour ride, and that's not counting traffic, food and bathroom breaks." He added and pushed his hands in his pockets.

"Is this your way of saying you wanna stay another night?" Kate wondered out loud as she zipped up her personal hygiene bag and turned towards him.

He shrugged his shoulders at her. "We could make a day of it. Get a bite to eat somewhere. It's seventy-five degrees out there, we could go down to the beach. Then get a good night's sleep and take off early and make it home by tomorrow evening."

Kate stepped forward, unintentionally bumping into him with her belly, and nodded smiling, "Yeah, sure. Why not?!"

X

Kate was once again behind the wheel. They had passed at a dozen restaurants and fast food joints already, but Kate hadn't seen anything yet that she wanted and James was starting to get a bit annoyed.

"Just pick a damn place already, Freckles, before we starve to death."

"I'm not sure what I'm hungry for."

"Well, then I'm pickin for you. The next place we see, will be it."

Just then a burger place came into view on the right and James gave her a pointed look, so she merged into the right lane, ready to take the turn into the parking lot.

"Looks like a nice enough place." He tried to cheer her up when he saw that pouty expression on her face as they got out of the car.

He held the door for her, "I'm sure they'll have somethin' on the menu that you'll like, Sweetheart."

"Yeah. Maybe." She replied and stepped past him inside.

X

"I said I was sorry." Kate tried not to laugh again.

"Yeah, you look real sorry, Buttercup." He said as he wiped the big brown stain on the front of his shirt with a napkin.

"It's not that bad." She said, trying to sound convincing.

"Not that bad?" He mocked her. "It looks like a diaper exploded on my shirt." His face displaying disgust.

"Well." Kate leaned over and tried to help clean him up with her napkin. "Shit happens." Before she burst out laughing at her own joke.

They paid the tab, got back in the car and James was just about to start the car, when Kate touched his arm and pointed at a small clothing store on the corner of the strip mall beside the burger place. "I'll be right back. I'll go get you a new shirt." She leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek and quickly climbed back out of the car.

James rolled down the window, and yelled after her, "Hurry up, woman."

She looked back at him over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him before she disappeared into the small store.

X

"Oh you know I'm gonna get ya' back for this, darlin', I'm gonna get ya' good, just wait and see." He shot her a look of impending revenge.

Kate smiled unfazed by his empty threats, "I swear it was the only one in your size and besides, you wore pink before, so I didn't think you'd mind."

"If it was just pink, I could deal with it, but the flowers? Really?" He said as he buttoned up the last few buttons on his new shirt.

Kate leaned on over to him and began to kiss a trail along his neck as she rested her hand on his upper thigh, taking him by surprise. "I think." She murmured into his ear. "I think you look good."

He laughed at her then and stopped her hand from traveling further north on his thigh. "Do you now?" He grinned. "But that backseat ain't big enough for you, me and that belly of yours."

She studied his face. "Is this you getting back at me already?"

"Maybe." He teasingly replied.

She sat back in her seat, "Maybe later then? Back in the room."

He smirked back at her, "Absolutely!"

It was hard to turn her down - in more ways than one - but he'd make it up to her later, back at the motel. More than once if she wanted him to. But for now she'd have to wait.

They got out of the car and walked towards the beach, and when Kate reached for his hand, in that moment, all was good!

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Late August, 2042

James Ford pulled up to the nursing home in his vintage red car. He got out and was just about to go inside, when his oldest son, who had also just arrived, stopped him in his tracks.

"Dad?" The younger man asked. "What are you doing here?"

"They called me, said your momma was finally better and I could come see her now."

"Really? That's great." He answered clearly relieved. "I've left a couple messages for you, how come you didn't call me back?"

"I was busy, Junior. Trying to fix a few things around the house before your momma get's to come back home."

"You're supposed to take it easy yourself, old man. There was a reason they didn't let you see her when she was running a high fever and was still contagious. If things need done around the house, you should've call me or Austen."

"It was nothin' I needed any help with. It's my house and I'll take care of it. Now if you don't mind, my woman's in there waiting on me." James started heading for the front door, but his son touched his arm to turn his attention back to him.

"Actually, dad, I wanted to talk to you about somethin'. I came by the house the other day, but you weren't home."

"You should've called first."

"I did, but once again, you didn't answer your phone."

James looked back at the door before returning his attention to his son again, "Look, I haven't seen your momma in over a god damn week and whatever you gotta talk to me about, it's gonna have to wait, son." And with that he pulled the door open and headed inside.

X

"James." She gasped when she saw him step into the room.

"How are you doing, Sweetheart?" He said as he stepped up beside her bed and leaned down over her to place a small gentle kiss onto her forehead.

"Better now that you're here." She replied with a smile that showed her teeth.

"They wouldn't let me in to see you, darlin'." He pulled a chair closer to the bed, one hand reached for hers and he squeezed it. "I've missed you, Freckles."

She squeezed his hand in return, "I missed you too."

He leaned forward and lifted her hand he was holding to his lips and kissed it.

She looked so much better again than she did the day he had to call the ambulance out to their house by lake. Her coughs had gotten so bad that day, that she could barely catch her breath and when she began to run a high fever, he knew he had no choice.

They both sat there for a long moment, just content being in each other's presents again when the door behind James opened and their son stepped into the room.

"Hey Mom." he greeted her as he stepped up to the other side of her bed and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"Hi, baby." Kate replied smiling, clearly happy to see her son.

"You look so much better today than just a couple days ago. How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. I'm just ready to get out of this bed and get back home before your father starves to death."

She grinned and her son chuckled, but James just smiled at her, "Woman, I can fend for myself just fine when it comes to food." He rubbed circles across her hand, "But there's a few things I can't do without you, Freckles." He said in a suggestive tone of voice.

"Hey dad, mind keepin' it pg while I'm still in the room here?" Their son interjected.

"Maybe it's time for you to hit the road then, Junior." James answered without missing a beat before he turned his full attention back to his wife.

"You two stop it." She spoke up and gave both of them a look that shut them right up.

"Well, I talked to your doctor just now, and if your oxygen keep going up and stay up, he said you can go home tomorrow."

"Thank god." Kate answered and let out a sigh of relief. "I can't wait to take a walk with you." She looked back up at her husband.

"Me neither, Freckles, me neither." He agreed and brought her hand to his lips again to kiss it.

Then out of nowhere she suddenly asked, "Have you been taken your meds? You always forget to take your meds if I'm not there to remind you."

James patted his chest above his heart, "Ticker's still tickin', Sweetheart."

She gave him a stern look. "That's not what I asked."

"I took 'em." He replied, "Don't you worry about me." He told her a white lie. He had forgotten to take them a few times over the last week.

"Listen." Their son interrupted and pulled a chair up so he could sit as well. "There's somethin' I need to talk to you about."

"What's wrong?" Kate tucked worriedly on the oxygen tube at her nose and tried to sit up more in the bed, but James placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and ushered her back into her pillow before he too returned his full attention back to their son.

"What's going on, son?" He asked.

The younger man cleared his throat, leaned forward in his chair and took his mother's hand in his and looked right at his mother. "When you were runnin' that high fever, you kept talkin' 'bout that island."

Kate and James shared a quick glance, but their son continued. "And at first, we all thought nothin' of it, but then you kept talkin' about names I'd never heard you mention before, and about dad, who wasn't even stranded on the same island with you." He shook his head, "And at first we thought it was just gibberish, and you were just so out of it that you got things mixed up, but-".

"She was sick, her fever was off the charts." James interrupted him.

"I know, dad. But then she started talkin' 'bout a book, a notebook that you had written, or the both of you, I guess."

James looked at Kate and she looked back at him, unsure of what their son was getting at. Unsure of how much he knew.

He looked back at his mother, "You said it was in the office and if we read it, then we would understand."

Kate shook her head, "I don't remember any of this. I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay, mom." He answered and squeezed her hand. "I found it." And he reached into his satchel and retrieved the notebook he'd found hidden under his father's desk.

James stood and glared angrily at his son, "You stole that from my house?"

He tried to defend his actions, "Mom was beggin' us to find it."

"She was sick, she didn't know what she was sayin'."

"Don't fight." Kate's voice was so small in comparison to the two men arguing beside her. "Please, don't fight."

"Did you read it?" James asked accusingly.

"Hell yeah, I read it. Cover to cover." His son replied with an arrogance that mirrored his own. "You guys have been lying to us our whole life."

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End file.
